Men able to justify domestic violence and abuse with variety of excuses, NGO report shows

ISTANBUL

A local NGO has revealed the results of a long-running research investigation into how men justified domestic violence, based on interviews conducted with over 20,000 female victims of abuse, between 1995 and 2013.
 
The report prepared by Şefkat-Der, a civil association founded to help marginalized segments of society, showed that men would use a variety of excuses to justify both physical and psychological abuse toward their partners.
 
According the report quoted by daily Taraf, victims said that reasons ranged from them wanting to have an abortion to the defeat of the football team supported by the husband.
 
The report also cited “going outside without asking permission,” “calling the national domestic violence hotline,” “asking to continue their studies,” “refusing to give the salary to the husband” and “the meal not being prepared at fast-breaking time during Ramadan” as other frequent reasons used by men to justify violence against their wives.
 
Violent acts towards women included beating, strangling, burning with boiled water, burning with cigarettes, cutting with blades or wounding with knives. Psychological violence, including insults, threats and blackmail, was also frequently used.
 
Domestic violence remains one of the most salient social problems in Turkey as, according to the data released on Nov. 25 for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, 802 women have been killed by their husbands in the past five years. More than 50,000 women have been protected from their husbands or partners with precautions such as restraining orders, mostly in Istanbul, Ankara and İzmir.
 
Experts also warned that official numbers only reflected the tip of the iceberg as thousands of women did not report violence for fear of the reactions of their families and relatives.